The present invention relates generally to coin sorting devices and, more particularly, to a type of coin sorter which uses a coin-driving member and a coin-guiding member for sorting coins of mixed diameters.
Coin sorters have been used for a number of years. These machines may be large systems which are placed on the floor in a bank, a casino, or a retail store. Alternatively, these machines may be of a smaller variety that fit on a counter top in one of these facilities. As would be expected, the larger systems process coins at higher rates and have additional features not available on the counter-top machines.
But, even in the smaller machines, one of the problems is that these machines require a fair amount of space which creates problems for the end user. With regard to casinos, if more space can be dedicated to gaming machines (i.e. like a slot machine) rather than a coin sorter, then the casino will attract more customers. In retail stores, if more space is dedicated to the display of goods, then the store will sell more goods. Likewise, to reduce the overhead costs, banks are desiring smaller machines to fit into their smaller offices and lobbies. Accordingly, the industries which commonly use coin sorting machines are demanding smaller coin sorters so that additional profits can be realized.
While the market demands a coin sorter machine with a smaller footprint, the sorting capabilities, especially the sorting rate, of the machines must not be compromised. Thus, a need exists for a high-speed coin sorting machine which has a reduced size.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide a coin sorter that is reduced in size and operates at high speeds and with a high degree of accuracy.
In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objective is realized by providing a coin sorter which includes a rotatable disc having a resilient top surface and a stationary sorting head having a lower surface positioned parallel to the upper surface of the disc and spaced slightly therefrom. The lower surface of the sorting head forms a plurality of coin exit channels for sorting and discharging coins of different denominations. The sorting head has a diameter about 8 inches or less, but can still sort up to eight different coins. To achieve the sorting of such a high number of coins in a very small area, the coins are queued along a common radius at a gauging station in the sorting head which has an extremely short length, less than about 2 inches. Consequently, the short gauging region allows for a sorting head with a smaller diameter.
The coin sorter system includes a unitary base member on which the bearing assembly for supporting the rotatable disc is mounted. The unitary base member also includes a recess in which a flange of the stationary sorting head is inserted in such a manner that the sorting head is automatically in concentric alignment with the rotatable disc that is positioned therebelow. The sorting head is secured to the unitary base member by fasteners which can be manually manipulated and which can be used to manually adjust the gap that separates the sorting head from the rotatable disc. The unitary base member also has a recess structure which mates with a corresponding structure on the flange of the rotatable disc guarantee that the sorting head is in the appropriate circumferential position relative to the unitary base member.
Because the unitary base member surrounds the periphery of the sorting head where the sorted coins exit from the sorting head, the unitary base member includes a plurality of integral coin chutes, each of which receives a particular denomination from the corresponding exit channel of the sorting head. The coins are then guided by the chutes to coin bins for each denomination. Alternatively, the coins are guided by the chutes to a coin manifold which distributes coins to a cash till of a standard cash register.
The unitary base member may also mount the motor which drives the rotatable disc and the printed circuit boards which control the operation of the coin sorter. Because the unitary base member serves as a mounting structure for numerous components of the overall system, the overall coin sorting system can be efficiently packaged.
The above summary of the present invention is not intended to represent each embodiment, or every aspect, of the present invention. This is the purpose of the figures and the detailed description which follow.